A Pleasant Surprise
by Serpent In Red
Summary: One day, Ami receives a surprise in her locker.


**Prompt**: #79. Surprise  
**Betas**: None. You have been warned.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own these characters, nor am I making any money from them. I merely borrow them from time to time.  
**Rating**: G  
**Notes**: Cross-posted on my LJ.  
**Summary**: One day, Ami receives a surprise in her locker.

~-0-~

**A Pleasant Surprise**

A surprised squeak left her lips before she could stop herself, attracting the gazes of the people walking past her. The attention she was receiving would've caused a furious blush to taint her pale cheeks, if Ami Mizuno weren't staring at the object in her locker like it was about to jump out and gobble her up any minute.

The seconds ticked by, and finally, her brain rebooted itself. She promptly threw the door of the locker shut before she turned her back towards it, pants leaving her lips like she had just been chased after by stranded dogs.

"Ami-chan …" Makoto called out, placing a hand on Ami's shoulder and a look of concern on her face. "Are you alright?"

"Th-the-there's some-something in-in my locker," Ami stammered, her heart still pounding painfully against her chest.

The look of concern on Makoto's face immediately turned fierce, her protective nature emerging as it always did whenever her friends were in trouble. Quickly, she maneuvered Ami so that the shorter girl was standing behind her. A determined look settled over her features as she bravely grabbed the handle of the locker and yanked the door open.

A moment of silence followed as Ami stood back to back against Makoto, her breathing still not completely back to normal.

Makoto, on the other hand, had confusion written all over her face as she stared at the thing that had scared Ami. Finally, she blinked. She blinked a couple of more times, as if she were trying to make sure that this was the object that had threatened one of her best friends (a Sailor Senshi, mind you) to the point of hyperventilation.

"Ami-chan …" Makoto opened her mouth hesitantly. "Is—"

"No."

"Is that—"

"Please don't say it," came the whispered whimper.

"Is that a love letter?"

As if on cue, Ami let out a little cry as red spots promptly announced their arrival all over her skin.

~-0-~

Some people would say that Ami Mizuno was anti-social. However, she didn't agree. It wasn't like she didn't want to make friends and have fun. She just didn't find anything wrong with placing schoolwork ahead of dating. Well, especially when many of such social minglings ended up with individuals either shooting her weird looks as if they had no idea what she was talking about or coming up with some flimsy excuse to take their leave on her. Her mother had reassured her that it was because they had been intimidated by her intelligence, something she didn't really believe as a child. She still didn't quite believe that as she got older.

She would tell anyone who told her that nowadays to take a look at Zephan Goto. Granted, he probably wasn't nearly as shy as she when it came down to speaking to new people—scratch that, he was downright brilliant when it came down to charming the people he wanted to—but really, he was just as smart as she was.

To the point that she was almost tempted to walk up to him and ask if he somehow knew how to predict the future the same way her boyfriend, Ryo Urawa did.

That, however, was not really an option, and it was not just because she had a hard time striking up a conversation with stranger. No, it was because he was male. And quite a handsome one, too—a fact that she would never, ever admit to anyone.

Therefore, it came as a surprise to everyone (who were not her fellow Senshi) when she officially started dating Ryo. Even her own mother had a look of surprise on her face for a split second before she quickly covered it up with an indulgent smile.

Minako had insisted that it wasn't true dating, not with the way they handled their relationship. True, the number of times they had physical contact with one another—sans the couple of moments when she had to save him from one youma or another—was pitiful, to say the least, but that was to be expected when he was so constantly moving around and only traveled to Juuban once in a blue moon.

Nonetheless, that suited Ami quite well. The frivolous things that couples did were fine once in a while, but she really didn't have time to do it all the time. She had other things that were much more important to do.

Another thing that endeared Ami to Ryo was the fact that she wasn't allergic to his letters … despite what the other girls thought.

Minako somehow managed to land her eyes on Ryo's letter while they were relaxing at the Crown one day and grabbed it before Ami could even say "no." However, after reading the letter, the girls had differing looks of dissatisfaction on their faces, and they mutually agreed that it was no love letter.

"He didn't even say he loved you," Usagi had whined with a grimace.

Ami had no argument for them; all she could say was that this was for the better. After all, it wouldn't actually be fun if she got a rash every time her boyfriend wrote a love letter to her, right?

Secretly, however, she acknowledged that it was a pity. Just like most other young girls, she had once dreamt of having a secret admirer who would turn out to be a charming prince. He would have the most elegant handwriting and the most prince-like eloquence, and he would sweep her off her feet with just a single letter, containing his declaration of love for her.

Of course, that dream was officially dashed after the first time she'd gotten a love letter.

Well, she did get over it, or at least, she convinced herself that she'd gotten over it, and Ryo was such a sweet person. She shouldn't be ungrateful and wished for something more.

And maybe one day, she could convince herself that she didn't mind it at all.

~-0-~

A gasp escaped her lips the moment she opened her locker and had a clear look of what was inside. At least, this time, the sound she'd made was much more subtle and no longer made her into a spectacle. However, her mind wasn't on that at the moment.

It was busy analyzing why, just why wasn't she having another panic attack. Usually, in situations like this, she would be recalling where the nearest trashcan was and if it were close enough for her to throw the offending item away before she started itching again.

Now, however ...

Her eyes raked over the neat handwriting printed delicately on the envelope that was sitting innocently inside her locker, and still, she didn't even feel a tendril of fear towards this particular love letter. Her abnormal reaction towards it ignited her curiosity.

Perhaps she was wrong, and this wasn't a love letter at all.

So, she tentatively reached out and poked the letter with a single, slightly shaking finger before shrinking it back immediately.

No reactions. Not yet, at least.

Squaring her shoulders, she swallowed her fear and inched her hand slowly towards the envelope—almost there—just another one or two centimeters—

Squeezing her eyes shut, she allowed her fingers to wrap themselves around the edge of the letter. She mentally counted to five, and when no signs of itching appeared on her body, she gradually opened her eyes.

She let out the breath she didn't even know she had been holding, though she had no idea if it was out of relief or something else. Brushing that question to the side for the time being, she gazed at the envelope. If it weren't for the lack of her surname on the letter, she would've thought that it was simply a notice from the school.

But she knew, deep inside, that it wasn't a letter from the school. Somehow, the handwriting on the envelope seemed … familiar to her, though she couldn't put a face to it.

Shaking her head, she deftly opened the letter and unfolded the paper inside. She was first surprised by the faint scent it gave off … was it flowers?

As her eyes took in the content of the letter, a faint blush appeared on her face as the smile on her face grew bigger. The logical side of her mind protested, pointing out that she shouldn't feel happy about a love letter; after all, she already had a boyfriend. However, for once, she actually didn't want to listen to logic as the words on the paper strummed a lovely melody inside her heart.

People continued walking past her as she stood there with what she imagined was a rather goofy smile on her face. However, she couldn't care less as she reread the letter a couple of more times.

When she finally folded up the paper—carefully along the same lines that the originator had creased it at—her eyes twinkled with a pleased glint. She didn't get a rash.

~-0-~

"Ami-chan," Minako chanted in a sing-song voice.

"Mm?" she answered absent-mindedly, a secretive smile still lingering on her face.

They were sitting on the floor around a single table at the Hikawa Shrine. Usagi and Rei sat across the table from Ami, arguing again about Usagi reading one of Rei's mangas without the latter's permission. Makoto sat to Ami's right and Minako to her left.

"I smell love in the air," Minako sang.

Makoto promptly tuned into their conversation when she heard what Minako said.

"Oh?" Ami replied, a faint tinge coloring her cheeks.

"Mm-hm. The aura is alllllll around you," Minako said as she leaned forward with a sly smile on her face. "I _**am **_the Senshi of Love after all."

"True as that might be, Minako-chan, I'm pretty sure that that status doesn't actually allow you to automatically detect love when you haven't completely reached your ultimate potential yet," Ami said. She tilted her head to one side and glanced at her friend with a teasing smile.

The blonde pouted as Rei and Usagi's argument turned into a physical one, but the three girls were hardly worried, since they knew that those two would never hurt one another beyond repair.

"You're not changing the subject on me, Ami-chan. Now spill. What happened today?" Minako asked.

Ami pushed a lock of hair behind her ear as the blush on her cheeks turned a shade darker. "Nothing …"

"Did you get a love letter from Ryo-kun?" Minako pressed on, not deterred in the least by a bit of denial.

"No." This time, Ami answered without hesitation, something that Minako picked up immediately.

"Is it a love letter from someone else?" she asked. Her voice was a pitch higher due to her excitement over the subject.

"It can't be, Minako-chan. Ami's allergic to love letters," Makoto pointed out.

Minako paused in stunned silence for a couple of seconds. "Oh … right …"

Ami nodded. "That's right. I'm allergic to love letters. So I can't possibly get a love letter without getting a rash, right?"

A frown appeared on Minako's forehead as she contemplated the situation. And she was so sure that _**something**_ pertaining to love must've happened to Ami … what else could it be then, if it wasn't a love letter?

Ami lowered her eyes and pretended to concentrate on the textbook in front of her as Minako racked her brains for other possibilities. Ami couldn't help but feel grateful towards Makoto for saving her and feel apologetic towards Minako for lying to her. The latter had no idea how close she was to the truth. However, for some reason, Ami didn't want to share this with the others. She didn't want to share the love letter with her friends yet.

Maybe someday she would, someday in the future. But for now, she wanted it to be her little secret.

The smile on her face deepened, thankful that she had remembered to hide the love letter safely out of sight today. Then, she tilted her head up and chided Rei and Usagi for fighting when they should be concentrating on their studies.

~-0-~

Zephan Goto nibbled on his lower lip, twirling a lock of his strawberry-blond hair around his forefinger. He had been sitting in his room for nearly an hour already, waiting for the perfect words to come. He didn't want this to be a repeat of the first one; he wanted it to be different. Thankfully, he was a patient man, so he continued to wait.

Finally, twenty minutes later, inspiration struck. His face lightened up as he brought his pen down to the faintly scented paper and allowed the words to flow, the face of that very special woman in his mind's eye.

~-0-~

**A/N**: So … though I've actually been a Sailor Moon fan for *checks calendar* a proud eighteen years and a SenShi fan for I-already-lost-count years, this is the first fanfiction I've written for it. Yes, shame on me, but I defend myself by saying inspiration strikes at the weirdest times.

To be honest, I really, really don't know if the plot in this fic had been used before; I tried Google searching it but came up with nothing, so I assume it's safe sailing. If there were any similarities, it's purely coincidental. Hopefully, I've managed to keep the characters fairly in-character. I mix and match details from the manga and the anime, so hopefully, it wasn't too cringe-worthy of a read. :)

And sorry if there are things that aren't canonical correct. It's been a while since I've watched the anime and an even longer time since I've reread the manga. Again, yes, shame on me *is embarrassed*, but feel free to point things out if they're wrong and I'll try my best to change them. :) I've never actually lived in Japan before, so things might not be correct in that aspect, but I tried. Google can only help me with that much.

As you've noticed, I've went along with the common practice of using a name starting with the same letter of the Generals' mineral names. I figure it would be easier for me, as well as readers, to keep track of who's who.

"Zephan" is of Celtic origin and means "Irish saint", which is why I've chosen this name for Zoisite, and I chose Goto because I, like many others, enjoy the idea of the Shitennou being compared to the four symbols of the Chinese constellations. So, with Zoisite corresponding to the Black Tortoise, Genbu, I took the first letter of that name and randomly chose a Japanese last name starting with G.

In regards to why Zoisite has an Celtic name and a Japanese last name … eh, anything is possible. I might address this in future fics taking place in the same universe as this story, or I might not, depending on the muse. :D

Hope you've all enjoyed reading this. :)


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